Tell all ye faithful
by La miseria y la muerte
Summary: Brad introduces Jenny to Christmas, and her mother forbids it.
1. A Partridge in Pear Tree Two Turtle Dove

Snow was really falling down. You'd be surprised how cold it gets in California. It hadn't been this cold since me, Brad and Tuck had had a snowball fight.  
  
I decided to stop by and see how they were. They lived next door, and I never bothered them before.  
  
"Hey! Brad, Tuck!" I entered without knocking. "It's getting kind of cold out there, huh?"  
  
I walked into the living room, I remember seeing Brad knelt over a box with red paper and shiny ribbons taped around it.  
  
"Shh! Don't tell Tuck! It'll ruin the surprise!" He half-whispered to me.  
  
"What surprise?"  
  
"The present! If he finds out it'll totally ruin the spirit of gift-wrapping."  
  
"Gift-wrapping? Is it his birthday?"  
  
"Where's your yuletide spirit, Jen? The gift is essential to Christmas."  
  
"Christ-a-what?"  
  
"Christmas! You know, jolly ol' St. Nick and decorations on trees and caroling, Christmas!"  
  
"Christ-uh-mus?"  
  
"You mean you've never heard of Christmas?!"  
  
I shook my head.  
  
"Where have you been?!"  
  
"In my room." I muttered to the floor.  
  
He put his hand on my back. "Cheer up, by the end of the week you'll be a Christmas expertee!"  
  
"I will?" I felt hopeful.  
  
"Sure thing, Bradley, your best friend, will not fail to teach you! After I wrap Tuck's present."  
  
"I have a question."  
  
"Ask away."  
  
"Why do you give him a present?"  
  
"Tradition, just like all of Christmas."  
  
"What's tradition?"  
  
"You have a lot to learn."  
  
***  
  
"Mom!" I screamed as I ran into home. "I just learned about something great!"  
  
"What is it dear?" My mother, Mrs. Wakeman, asked, "Is it Albert Einstein?"  
  
"Nope."  
  
"Thomas Edison?"  
  
"Guess again."  
  
"Magnetics?"  
  
"No, Christmas!"  
  
"Christmas?" She was appauled. "Rubbish."  
  
"Rubbish? It's the greatest holiday ever! It brings families close together, it celebrates good will towards all men and it shows unselfishness and charity!"  
  
"Garbage! It does none of those things and it never will."  
  
"Oh come on Mom! Just wait until the house is full of relatives and we all talk about holiday spirit and you can make food for all of them, and-"  
  
"I will have none of that in this house! Besides, I haven't gone anywhere that my family is in over twenty years!"  
  
"But it's Christmas! They'll open their hearts up to you and-"  
  
"It's ridiculous, and I forbid you to do any celebrating of any sort!"  
  
"But Mom!" I cried out in desparity.  
  
"No buts! You're a world-saving robot, you have more important things to do!"  
  
I stomped out. "Thanks a lot, scrooge!"  
  
***  
  
"Mom said no to the Christmas thing." I told Brad at school the next day.  
  
"She did? Did she say no to the tree?"  
  
"Yep."  
  
"The presents?"  
  
"Yeah."  
  
"The relatives? The food? The good will toward all men?"  
  
"Yes, yes, and yes." I said, full of anger.  
  
"Hmmm..." He thought for a second. "I know, just do what I'd do. Keep bugging her about it until she says yes."  
  
"Would that really work?" I doubted.  
  
"Trust me, it'll work much better than the cover-up."  
  
"So, the robot girl celebrates Christmas." Brit said. "How charming."  
  
"Yeah, if you like tin in your eggnog!" Tiff laughed.  
  
"Merry Christmas you guys!" I said.  
  
"I'm celebrating Kwanzaa." Brit told me.  
  
"Oh, well, Happy Holidays then!" I waved as they walked away.  
  
"What are you being so nice to them for?" Brad asked.  
  
"Christmas spirit." I answered.  
  
***  
  
Chapter one is done! I love saying that. Please review. I have this 'policy' that if no one reviews I don't write another chapter. I don't wanna waste my time. 


	2. Three French Hens Four Calling Birds

"Mom, I've devised a list of reasons. Each thoroughly explains why Christmas is not just an exceptable holiday, but also an extraordinary one!" I told her.  
  
"No, XJ9, I strictly forbid this holiday." Mom put her foot down.  
  
"But, you didn't even let me state my reasons!"  
  
"Put away your list, and delete it. If you even try to celebrate," She shuddered. "Christmas," She said with an evil tone. "I will ground you."  
  
"This is what I want!"  
  
"I'm your mother, and I say no!"  
  
I got very angry. "Just because you're an athyest doesn't mean that the birth of Christ means nothing to me!!" I screamed.  
  
"XJ9! You will not use that tone with me! Now go to your room!" She ordered.  
  
"Well I can't!" I shouted,"I have to save the world instead of hanging out with my friends or enjoying holiday spirit! I have to do everything you say and when I ask for anything it's always 'No XJ9! You can't have fun ever!'. I'm not like you Mom! I have a life!"  
  
I started crying, and I flew off. The snowflakes tickled me as I went by, but I was in no mood for tickling.  
  
***  
  
I don't exactly remember where I landed, but it was a Jewish community. For that reason, I think that it was probably Israel.  
  
"What are you guys celebrating?" I asked a man in hebrew.  
  
"Hanukkah ended last week." He told me.  
  
I sighed. "Mom forbids me to celebrate the holidays." I told him.  
  
"Then your mother has failed you." He said.  
  
"It makes me feel better, but it doesn't help me." I said.  
  
"If your mother is a decent woman, she will respect your beliefs."  
  
"I wish she would." I had to hurry up, I needed to meet Brad. I snapped into super-hero mode. "So, what's the trouble here?"  
  
"Trouble?"  
  
"I got an emergency signal." I told him.  
  
"I did not press an emergency signal."  
  
"That can only mean one thing."  
  
A gigantic shadow approached over us.  
  
I lowered my eyes. "Asteroid."  
  
I flew off to take care of the minor distraction. It turned out to be very minor, since half the meteor went into flames by the time it hit the atmosphere. I just had to cool it down, and then I grabbed it and flung it back into outer space.  
  
"YEAH JENNY!" They all screamed in hebrew.  
  
I gave them my thanks, and then left.  
  
***  
  
I pounded on Brad's door. "Open up!"  
  
Brad opened the door. "Jenny, calm down. What's your rush?"  
  
"Mom doesn't know I'm here. I have to be back to really soon." I stepped inside and Brad kissed me on the cheek.  
  
I blushed. "Bradley!"  
  
"What? It's mistletoe." He pointed to the leaves right above me.  
  
I laughed. "So what are you guys doing today?"  
  
"Me and Tuck were just decorating the tree. Join us."  
  
"Are you sure I'm not intruding?" I asked as I walked into the living room.  
  
"It's Christmas! There's no such thing as intruding."  
  
"Brad! We still have to put the star on top!" Tuck said.  
  
"Can't you do it yourself yet?" Brad said.  
  
"Can you?" Tuck asked.  
  
Brad groaned. He lifted Tuck up and then Tuck put a shiny star on the top of the tree.  
  
"What's the star for?" I asked.  
  
"I don't know. We put it up there every year." Brad said.  
  
"Brad! It symbolizes the star of Bethlehem! The one the wise men saw while and then they went to see the baby Christ!"  
  
"Come on Tuck, you know just as well as I do that Christmas is just one big tradition. It's not a religious celebration."  
  
"Brad, your decency has just dramatically gone down in my mind." Tuck said.  
  
"Is that true? The star of Bethlehem?" I asked.  
  
"100% true." Tuck told me.  
  
"That's bull. Everyone knows it's a symbol of nothing." Brad said.  
  
As I stared at the evergreen tree with all it's ornaments and popcorn strings, I knew that this star of Bethlehem was leading me somewhere now.  
  
***  
  
"Sleigh Bells ring. Are you listenin'?" I sang as I walked home.  
  
"In the lane, snow is glistenin'.  
  
"A beautiful sight, we're happy tonight.  
  
"Walking in a winter wonderland." I went inside my own home.  
  
Compared to Brad and Tuck's warm Christmas celebrating home, this was a dull boring old house. I had wished that I lived somewhere more cozy; like prison.  
  
"XJ9! You were gone for hours taking care of a small meteor!" Mom shouted,"And one that burned in the atmosphere, I might add! What were you doing?"  
  
"I was decorating a tree!" I admitted.  
  
"Decorating? A tree?"  
  
"Yes, a Christmas tree! I spent hours laughing and talking with Brad and Tuck and I don't regret any of it! I held within me the joy of Chrismas, and that was so wonderful, I think I could've cried."  
  
"You were celbrating Christmas! I ought to ground you!" She threatened.  
  
"Then ground me!" I told her. "I don't care at all! I'll still have that joy in one hundred years, and you'll never be able kill this feeling!"  
  
She lowered your eyes. "Go to your room." She whispered.  
  
"What?"  
  
"I said go to your room." She didn't even sound threatening.   
  
"Only a grinch like you could do this." I told her as I walked to my room.  
  
***  
  
"How has your mom been about the Christmas thing lately?" Brad asked me at my locker.  
  
"Not so good." I told him, "She's just won't listen."  
  
"How persistant are you?"  
  
"I'm starting to annoy myself!"  
  
"This doesn't look good." Brad shook his head. "Your mom must really mean no."  
  
"This is so unfair! I never asked her for anything this important to me ever! I mean sure, I wanted a little freedom, a little privacy, a little time with friends, but Christmas is so much more important than all of those!"  
  
"Just remember what the Bible says, Jenny."  
  
"What's that?"  
  
"Let there be light!" He said dramaticly.  
  
"What does that have to do with anything?"  
  
He shrugged. "I don't know. I just felt like saying it."  
  
"You are one of the weirdest people I know."  
  
"Happy to help."  
  
Brit and Tiff walked towards me, well, maybe not toward be, but they walked by me. Brit was wearing a red and green striped dress.  
  
"Hey Brit, Hey Tiff!" I said, "Brit, love the Christmas dress! Red and Green, that is so original!"  
  
She glared. "It's a traditional Kwanzaa dress. One that my great-great-grandmother carried to America and passed on to my great-grandmother and so on and so forth, until it reached me."  
  
"That's great. My mom didn't pass anything down to me."  
  
"What was she supposed to pass on?" Tiff said. "A lugnut?"  
  
Brit and Tiff laughed at me, not with me.  
  
"What are you celebrating Tiff?"  
  
"Nothin', the holidays are a time to get presents, and tell your parents what to buy other people and say it's from you. Happy Holidays to materialism!"  
  
"And being the center of attention, Tiffy dearest." Brit added.  
  
"Excuse me! What're we doin' by her if we wanna be the center of attention!" Tiff pointed to me.  
  
"Quick! They might be voting someone else most popular right now!" Brit added.  
  
Both of them were gone before I got to say another word.  
  
***  
  
Jingle Bells!  
  
Jingle Bells!  
  
Jingle all the way!  
  
Oh what fun it is to ride in a one-horse open sleigh!  
  
Hey!  
  
Oh, sorry, chapter two is over.  
  
Tanya: What'd I miss?"  
  
Me: Nothin'. I just wrote a few paragraphs.  
  
Tanya: YOU USED JENNY/BRAD!  
  
Me: Did not!  
  
Tanya: You totally did! He kissed her!  
  
Me: That was just the spirit of the holidays!  
  
Tanya: SMOOCHIE SMOOCHIE! PUCKER UP JENNY!  
  
Me: Stop it!  
  
Tanya: Are they gonna kiss again?  
  
Me: How should I know!  
  
Tanya: You're writing the fic.  
  
Me: No, I'm spying Jenny from this tree in secret and I'm writing down what happens to her.  
  
Tanya: Liar.  
  
Me: Where's Xaye and Marlin?  
  
Tanya: Taco Bell  
  
Me: They went without me?  
  
Tanya: You're a vegitarian.  
  
Me: So? I like refired beans.  
  
Tanya: You're hopeless.  
  
Me: Tell them to review.  
  
Tanya: You tell em'  
  
Me: No you.  
  
Tanya: YOU  
  
Me: You!  
  
Tanya: Maybe they don't wanna review.  
  
Me: They will if you tell them to.  
  
Tanya: No they won't  
  
Me: Shut up and tell them  
  
Tanya: Review. do it now.  
  
Me: Danke Schaen 


	3. Five Golden Rings Six Geese A'Laying

Walking home from school in the snow, it was quite beautiful. I knew mom said that I shouldn't be celebrating Christmas, but as I passed the Christmas tree lot, I really couldn't have cared less.  
  
I walked up to a salesperson. "Excuse me, I need a really small Christmas tree. The smallest one you have."  
  
"Certainly." He walked me over to a tree that was just above half of my height. "This tree," He said, "Is three and a half feet tall. It will fit in any household in any corner."  
  
"It's still a little to tall." I said.  
  
"You want something very small?"  
  
I nodded.  
  
"Go over there. We sell trees about a foot tall in that building."  
  
It was a little less than a building, more of a hut. Nonetheless, they had what I wanted, a small tree. You could call it handheld, or a decoration. Whatever you could call it, it was mine.  
  
***  
  
I hummed Jingle Bells as I decorated my small tree with a popcorn string Brad had given me. Suddenly, my door slammed open.  
  
"MOM!" I turned around and tried to hide the tree.  
  
"XJ9, what is going on? You've been up here all day, and I smell evergreen, and...popcorn? What are you hiding?" She tried to push me aside.  
  
"Really Mom, nothings happeni-"  
  
She looked behind me and saw the tree. "So, this is what you're up to?" She said with an evil glare.  
  
"Uh! It's just a Christmas tree!" I said.  
  
"I told you, you have much more important things to do. Dispose of it, now!" She ordered.  
  
"No!" I shouted. "NO! NO! A million times no!"  
  
She stared me straight through. "Are you being aggressive with me?" She grabbed my tree.  
  
"What are you doing?"  
  
"Something I should have done a long time ago." She walked downstairs and then threw my tree straight into the fireplace.  
  
She burned my tree. My Christmas tree, the one with Brad's popcorn string on it, the one I had spent an hour decorating, the one I bought with some of the money I had earned in after-school work, the tree that I had built a tinfoil star for, and she burned it. When that tree died, some of my holiday spirit did. All of it? Not even close.  
  
"I hope you learned a lesson." Mom said.  
  
***  
  
Just before bedtime, mom came into my room. "I have a surprise, XJ9." She said.  
  
"What is it?" I said, still very mad.  
  
"I fixed the dream chip, just let me put it in." She pulled a chip out of pocket and reached for my head.  
  
"What are you doing mom? That isn't the dream chip." I pulled away.  
  
"Of course it is, XJ9. Don't be so stubborn." She lied.  
  
"Get away from me, Mom! You're lying!" I flew to the ceiling.  
  
"You'll run out of fuel sometime!" She shouted.  
  
I never got to that point, though. Because took her shoe off and threw it at me. It was so unexpected, I fell unconscious. Blackness surrounded me until I woke up.  
  
I blinked my eyes slowly open. I remember feeling very different.  
  
"There, now wasn't that easy?" Mom said.  
  
"Can I have dreams yet?" I asked.  
  
"Uh...no." She said.  
  
"I thought you fixed it."  
  
"I did, it's just...uh...too unsafe."  
  
"Then why'd you put it in?"  
  
"That's enough talking back! Now get to bed instantly! Tomorrow's your last day of school before Christmas vacation." She left.  
  
I remember, sitting here now, a little voice inside of me that had said, at that very moment, 'I hate Christmas'.  
  
***  
  
Feliz Navidad a ustedes.  
  
Y a ustedes, unos buenos noches!  
  
I don't know if I'm saying that right, I'm only in my first year of Spanish. 


	4. seven swans a'swimming eight maids a mil...

By school the next day, the voice wouldn't shut up. He kept saying 'Christmas is for fools','No one celebrates the holidays!' and,'If you celebrate Christmas, you're worthless.'  
  
I didn't listen to the voice, but he got rather annoying. I told him to shut up about a thousand times, but he never did.  
  
"Hey Jenny!"  
  
Finally, a familiar voice.  
  
"Sheldon, I need your help."  
  
"What is it?"  
  
"Can you get this anti-Christmas chip out of my head ASAP?"  
  
"Sure, I just need to get my tool kit out of the shop room."  
  
"Great, let's go!" I grabbed his hand and used my high-powered rollerskate feet to get me and Sheldon to the shop room.  
  
"Go get it!" I said.  
  
"Stay here." He told me, then he walked inside the room.  
  
I waited, and while I waited, he kept talking.  
  
"What do you need Christmas for? It's done nothing for you! You're better off without it!"  
  
"You don't know what you're talking about! Get out of my head!"  
  
"I got it, Jenny!" He said.  
  
"Hurry up! Get it out!" I bent over so he could search through my head.  
  
"There are so many chips, I don't know which one it is."  
  
"Just try a few! I'm sure you'll find it."  
  
"Okay...how 'bout this one." He pulled something out.  
  
"I can't feel my legs!"  
  
"Okay! Okay!" He put it back in. "Maybe this one."  
  
"Necesito la chipa poner en!"  
  
"Spanish? That can't be right." He put it back in. "This one, I'm sure." He pulled another out.  
  
I looked up at him. "Who are you?"  
  
"Oh great! Amnesia!" He put it back in. He closed his eyes. "This one." He pulled one out.  
  
"Ahh!" I magneticly flew up and was attached to the air vent. "Magnetic? This is so wrong!"  
  
He jumped up to reach the back of my head, and then he put the chip back in, then I fell to the ground.  
  
"Ow, my head." I put my hand to my forehead.  
  
"This is way too dangerous! I've tampered enough." Sheldon put his tool kit away.  
  
"But the voice!" I cried as he left.  
  
"You don't need Christmas." the voice said.  
  
I nearly cried. This is terrible.  
  
***  
  
"Jenny, you look upset? Christmas blues?" Brad asked me.  
  
"No, quite the contrare. I'm having no-Christmas blues." I answered  
  
"How so?"  
  
"Mom put this chip in my head, and now this little voice tells me that Christmas is evil."  
  
"Freaky."  
  
"That doesn't even start to describe it."  
  
"This could count as cruel and unusual punishment."  
  
"She's my mom, Brad. I can't sue her."  
  
"Did you try taking the chip out?"  
  
"Boy did I ever."  
  
"It didn't work?"  
  
"Not at all."  
  
"You know Jenny, I don't know what made Wakeman hate Christmas. It's a time of giving, peace on earth, goodwill toward all men, and family. Whatever it is, you gotta find out."  
  
"That's crazy. She'll never tell me."  
  
"If you don't ask."  
  
***  
  
I stomped right in, the voice screamed, 'Christmas is evil! Don't celebrate Christmas!'.  
  
"Alright mom," I stared her down, "I don't know what made you hate Christmas, but this little chip isn't changing my mind. I still love Christmas, and no matter what chip you put in me, I still will."  
  
"You'll see it my way soon enough." She said.  
  
"No I won't! I'll never see it your way, ever! So just forget about it, Scrooge. Because, in my heart, I'll still have Christmas spirit. That doesn't die."  
  
She looked at me. "You're a fool, XJ9."  
  
"GOD! What is with you mom? Why do you hate Christmas so much?"  
  
"I'm your mother, you'll do as I say."  
  
"Just tell me! What's wrong with Christmas?!"  
  
She stared at me. "Everything."  
  
I felt angry, upset, like ripping her throat out, mostly I felt disappointed. Disappointed that there was something I wanted, with good intention, and I could not have it.  
  
"Deck the halls with boughs of holly!" We heard carolers singing. I knew Brad and Tuck were two of them.  
  
"Fa la la la la la la la."  
  
"What's that noise?" Mom asked me.  
  
"Carolers singing Christmas carols." I said.  
  
She opened the window. "GET OFF MY LAWN!" She screamed.  
  
"She's right. There should be no Christmas." The voice in my head said.  
  
"SHUT UP!" I screamed to that voice, "SHUT UP SHUT UP SHUT UP!!!"  
  
Mom looked at me.  
  
"Listen Ebenezer Wakeman, I got news for ya! Christmas is about putting away all our petty problems and being gracious giving humans with good intentions! It's about celebrating the birth of Jesus Christ, our savior. It's abou the holy virgin mother Mary, whom gave birth to that babe in a manger. If I can't find Christmas joy here, I'll find it somewhere else!"  
  
I flew away into the night.  
  
***  
  
End of chap. 4. Feliz navidad! 


	5. nine ladies dancing ten pipers piping

I got to stay at Brad and Tuck's house that night.  
  
"Thanks for letting me stay." I said.  
  
"No prob, if you don't mind sleeping on the floor." Brad said.  
  
"I'm a robot. I have no feeling, remember?"  
  
"Right, right. Gotcha." He said.  
  
"Hey Jenny!" Tuck said, "Are you really staying for the night?"  
  
"Yeah. I guess I am." I said, "I can't believe your parents let me stay."  
  
"Mom and dad are really cool with stuff during the holidays." Brad told me, "It's like free bail."  
  
"Go Home." The voice said, "They're Christmas people, not your kind of people."  
  
"This is driving me crazy!" I said, "This stupid voice!" I banged my head against the wall.  
  
"Hey! Easy Jenny! I need that wall!" Brad said.  
  
"Brad, I have to get this thing out of my head! I can't hear myself think!"  
  
"If you want it out, why don't you just ask your mom to take it out?"  
  
"I already did! Like, a gazillion times!"  
  
"You know," Tuck said, "Gazillion isn't an actual number. You're a high-tech robot, you should know that."  
  
I sighed. "Not now, Tuck."  
  
"You know Jenny," Brad said, "I've got a little bit of techie in me."  
  
"Yeah, you go to the Polytech bake sale!" I mocked him.  
  
"They happen to make a great cherry pie." Brad said.  
  
Tuck said, "He's not lyin'!"  
  
I sighed. "Get to the point Brad."  
  
"As I was saying," Brad continued, "I have a bit of technical know-how and I bet I could get that chip out."  
  
"Brad, Sheldon couldn't get this chip out! How do you think you'll be able to?" I asked.  
  
"I'm very good with my hands." Brad said.  
  
"What about your brain?"  
  
"It comes in handy."  
  
"Brad, maybe Jenny's right." Tuck said.  
  
"What do you know? You're twelve." Brad said stubbornly.  
  
"Do you even have any tools?" I asked.  
  
"It's just a stupid chip. What do I need tools for?" He wanted to know.  
  
"Have you ever worked with robotics before?" I asked.  
  
"Jenny, that's a stupid question," He said, "I work with you all the time."  
  
"That's not what I meant."  
  
"Just let me take a peek in your noggin, and it'll be out in a jiffy." He said.  
  
"Don't touch my head." I told him, "My brain is ten times as advanced as yours!"  
  
"You let Sheldon try to take it out!" Brad argued, "Which I shouldn't know about because you never told me, but that's not the point!"  
  
"My brain is only five times as advanced as Sheldon's." I said.  
  
"Waitaminute!" Brad said, "Did you just call me stupid?"  
  
"Oh please! This is pathetic!" I said.  
  
"Okay! Enough!" Tuck said, "Listen Jenny, I know it sounds weird, but just let Brad try and take the chip out. I'm sure if anything goes wrong your mom is next door."  
  
I sighed and handed him a pliers. "Please, don't do anything stupid."  
  
"When have I ever done anything stupid, Jenny?" He asked me.  
  
"Would you call driving an alien spaceship stupid?"  
  
He took the pliers. "I happen to be an extraterestrial expert."  
  
"You are so lying." I said.  
  
He stuck the pliers into my head. "Gotta be here somewhere..."  
  
"Brad..."  
  
"Just a minute Jenny."  
  
"I can't see anything."  
  
"That's perfectly normal."  
  
"No it's not."  
  
"I got it." He took a chip out.  
  
There was complete silence. I heard nothing.  
  
"Wow. I'ts out, and I can see." I said.  
  
"I told you." Brad said, "The Bradster can do anything."  
  
"I can't believe it. It's all gone. You did something right." I told Brad.  
  
"Amazing, ain't it?"  
  
I nodded.  
  
***  
  
Okay, this isn't the last chapter, and I know that you waited forever for this huge paragraph of nonsense, but let's be reasonable. I'm very busy.  
  
First, there's my MLAATR website www.geocities.com/xj9teenagerobot/index.html   
  
Second there's my yahoo group www.groups.yahoo.com/xj9teenagerobot/join Third, I'm a mod at the Jenny's World forum, and that's not as easy as it sounds.  
  
Fourth, I'm writing this fic and two others of my own, and two that I'm co-writing! I have this one, Tell all ye faithful, X7T and the non-upped Raul-17 fic (This will not be the title, but yeah) and I'm co-writing with Anthony Logatto for Jenny & The World Robot Competition and I'm co-writing with Cartoon Girl for a sequel to A Tale of Two Nicktoons.  
  
Fifth, I have art club after school on Tuesdays, MathCounts about once a week, and English Festival.  
  
Sixth, with Xmas happening I have to clean almost the whole house! All of my dad's family comes over and eats all our food and then they usually leave to my Grandpa's house to play craps, but he doesn't have a craps table anymore so they're gonna stay here for another few hours, I think. They might leave, but probably not. Then I have to go to my aunt's for Xmas on my Mom's side, and I've been Christmas shopping for days!!!!!  
  
Don't get the wrong idea, I love you guys a ton, but this might take awhile to get the last chapter up. I'll try and get up before New Year's, but I'm not promising anything -.- I'm so stupid. 


	6. eleven somethin twelve drummers drumming

"Hey, Jenny! Wake up!" Brad said.  
  
I opened my eyes. "What is it Brad?"  
  
"Today's Christmas Eve." He said.  
  
"Cool. What happens on Christmas Eve?" I asked him.  
  
"This." He handed me a present.  
  
"Brad, you shouldn't have."  
  
"Open it."  
  
Inside there was a snow globe with a house in it, and I swear that there was someone standing in front of that house that looked like she could be a robot. "This is the greatest present I ever got. Thank you!"  
  
"Don't sweat it." He said, "It was nothing."  
  
"Oh Brad." Tuck said.  
  
"Tuck, what are you up to?" Brad asked.  
  
"You got my present?" Tuck said in a coy voice.  
  
"If you got mine."  
  
"What are you guys doing?" I asked them.  
  
"And..." Brad stared him down, "1 2 3!"  
  
Tuck and Brad tossed each other a present. Brad viciously teared through the wrapping paper. "Fuzzy dice?"  
  
"You know, for when you get to drive." Tuck laughed.  
  
Brad tossed the box at Tuck. He opened the card. "Twenty bucks." He whispered to me, "Not bad for a twelve-year-old."  
  
Tuck rolled his eyes and opened up his present. "A toy car, how'd you know?"  
  
"Tuck, I know everything about you."  
  
"Oh yeah?"  
  
"Yeah."  
  
"This is gonna take awhile." I sighed.  
  
My belly button started beeping. Mom's screen that she uses to call me popped out. "XJ9," She said, "Where are you?"  
  
"What do you care? I'm just doing holiday nonsense." I mocked her.  
  
"Get home this instant, young lady."  
  
"Ugh, fine!" I sighed.  
  
The TV screen closed.  
  
"She never lets me do anything!" I complained.  
  
"Calm down Jen." Brad said.  
  
"Yeah, it's nothing to freak about." Tuck told me.  
  
"You're right. I just need to chill out." I said, "I'll be back soon." I flew away.  
  
***  
  
"Mom!" I walked in. "Mom!!"  
  
"I'm in the living room." She called.   
  
"Listen, I gotta talk to you about-" I walked in and sitting right in the middle of the living room was the largest and most spectacularly decorated Christmas tree I had ever seen.  
  
"Mom, this is...wow." I stared.  
  
"If you're going to do this holiday thing, you're going to do it right." She grabbed the star out of the box. "Put this on top."  
  
I grabbed the star and flew to the top. I set it gently on the green pine needles.  
  
Mom plugged it in. "Perfect. Just perfect."  
  
I flew down. "Mom, I thought you hated this stuff. You even inserted a chip into my head."  
  
"Oh, well...when I was little Christmas was the biggest family tradition. My mother's entire side of her family would come over to our house and we'd spend the whole day together."  
  
"That sounds great."  
  
"It was, but then I got older and I realized that robotic technology was where I belonged. Now, keep in mind that most of my family had taken up animal care. My mother was a veterianarian, my father owned a kennel, my aunt breed dogs, my uncle groomed dogs and even my grandmother was a retired animal trainer."  
  
"What'd they say when you told them that you didn't want to be in the animal care business?"  
  
"They were heart broken. My mother told her whole family, and they were outraged. They thought that I needed to be reminded what the family business was. Every day after Christmas, I would always find that something I'd built had mysteriously broke."  
  
"What did you do?"  
  
"I kept going. They couldn't stop me. When I was 18, I left to go to Tremerton University, and I haven't seen them since."  
  
"Didn't you get lonely?"  
  
"No. I built XJ1 then XJ2 then XJ3 etc. etc. until I made you."  
  
"So holidays are just a bad memory for you?"  
  
"That pretty much sums it up."  
  
"Wow, I had no idea. Well, we've gotta call them." I opened up my satelitte in my pigtail.  
  
"What do you think you're doing?" Mom asked me.  
  
"If you don't make peace with them now, you never will." I dialed the number.  
  
"XJ9-"  
  
"Shh! It's ringing."  
  
"Hello?" The person on the other line said.  
  
"Hi, it's me, Jenny."  
  
"Jenny who?"  
  
"Jenny Wakeman. Mom built me, I'm a robot."  
  
"Is this a joke?"  
  
"No, don't you remember my mom, she didn't want an animal care career and she went into robotics instead."  
  
"Yeah. I remember her. I'm her sister."  
  
"She never told me she had a sister."  
  
"XJ9, get off that phone-" Mom ordered.  
  
"Shh, I'm talking." I said, "So, are you guys having Christmas dinner tomorrow?"  
  
"Yeah, at our brother Ryan's house."  
  
"Can I have the address?"  
  
"Sure, it's 123 Fake street."  
  
"Great, I'll see you there."  
  
"Ciao."  
  
"Ciao." I hung up. "First thing tomorrow, we're flying to your brother Ryan's house for Christmas dinner."  
  
"You don't know where it is." She protested.  
  
"I got the address, my built-in atlas will guide us."  
  
"We don't have any gifts."  
  
"That's why they invented last-minute-shopping."  
  
"There's no way you'll remember tomorrow."  
  
I rolled my eyes. "Mom, how much memory space do you think that you built me with?"  
  
"Fine. We'll go."  
  
"Yes!" I cheered.  
  
***  
  
"Are you ready for lift-off?" I squated down.  
  
"You're sure this won't break the present." Mom said.  
  
"It'll be fine mom."  
  
"It's a very delicate glass vase."  
  
"I know mom, I picked it out."  
  
"But I told you to go to the pottery barn."  
  
"We're going."  
  
"Wait! Do you think I should bring an entree?"  
  
"No, I'm sure they have tons of food."  
  
"Positive?"  
  
"Stop worrying."  
  
"I'm not worrying."  
  
I sighed and lifted off.  
  
***  
  
"Are you sure I look okay?" Mom asked me.  
  
"You look great, mom." I reassured her.  
  
"Maybe we should just-"  
  
"I'm gonna knock in three seconds. 3..."  
  
"Just wait-"  
  
"2..."  
  
"a minute"  
  
"1." I knocked.  
  
The door opened, a man resembling mom stood there.  
  
"Elizabeth?" He asked.  
  
"Ryan?" Mom said.  
  
"I can't believe it's you. It's been so long, we've all missed you so much."  
  
"Who's here?!" A woman inside called.  
  
"It's my long-lost sister," Ryan called back, "Elizabeth."  
  
The lady walked over to us. "Hello, pleasure to meet you." She shook mom's hand. "I'm Candi, Ryan's wife."  
  
"Well Candy, it's very nice to meet you too." Mom answered. "This is my daughter, XJ9."  
  
"You can call me Jenny." I said.  
  
"Please, come in." Ryan said.  
  
We walked in. "I told you they'd like you." I whispered.  
  
We all had a seat in the living room.  
  
"Are you Jenny?" a different lady stood up and shook my hand. "I talked to you last night on the phone. I'm Rebecca, your aunt."  
  
"It's great to meet you." I said.  
  
Rebecca pointed to the two babies in the stroller. "These are my twin boys, Andrew and Alex. My husband, Max, isn't here today. He's on a business trip."  
  
A little seven-year-old girl sat in the corner. "This is my daughter, Lily." Candi said.  
  
"I'm so surprised to see all the children." Mom said.  
  
"Well, we've been trying to contact you for years." Ryan said.  
  
"You have?"  
  
"Yeah," Rebecca said, "Everyone's missed you."  
  
"You all have?" Mom asked.  
  
"Sure, you don't think we'd turn our backs on you just because you liked robotics instead of animal care, did you?" Ryan asked.  
  
"Well, that's what it looked like." Mom admitted.  
  
"No, we just needed to realize that you could pick what you wanted to be. Heck, I didn't go into animal care, and Ryan developed an allergy to cats and dogs." Rebecca said.  
  
"Really?"  
  
"Yeah, I went into accounting." Rebecca said.  
  
"And I'm a doctor, for people." Ryan told us.  
  
"And mom didn't mind?"  
  
"No, of course not. She decided that after losing her oldest child to the family tradition, we could do what we wanted." Rebecca told mom.  
  
"I can't believe I missed all this." Mom said.  
  
"Don't worry, we'll fill you both in." Rebecca told us.  
  
Mom patted my hand and mouthed 'thank you'.  
  
I just winked. It was my first Christmas, and I wasn't going to say I told you so.  
  
"Merry Christmas." Mom said, "Merry Christmas."  
  
***  
  
The End  
  
***  
  
Could all of you please review? I just want an honest opinion, what did you like and what didn't you like. Go ahead, tell me.  
  
Okay, I promised I would up this chap before 2004, and it's December 31st so I kept my promise. What're you lookin' at? 


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